Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-07-30
(coNTINUED.l
CHAPTER XVII.


by the blow that had fallen on her, but as
time went on she revived little, for hers
was a sanguine nature with great deal
of elasticity about it. Troubles sink in
to the souls of some like water into a
sponge. and weigh them down almost to
the grave. From others they run off as
the wster would if poured upon marble,
merely wetting the surface. She was
neither the one nor the other of these, but
rather of a substance between the two-a
healthy. happy hearted woman. full OF
beauty and vigor, made to bloom. in the
sunshine. not to languish in the shadow
of some old grief. Women of her stamp
do not die of broken hearts or condemn
themselves to lifelong celibacy as sac
ritice to the shade of the departed. II
No. 1 is unfortunately removed, they, as
general rule, shed many tear and suf-
fer many pang. and after decent in
terval very sensibly turn their attention
to No 2.
Still it was a very pale faced, quiet
Bessie, who went to and fro about the
place after the visit of the one~eyed Kaf-
fir. All her irrita bility had left her now /;
she no longer jumped down her uncle's
throat about his having dispatched John
TO Pretoria. Indeed, on that very even
ing after the evil tidings came, he began to
reproach himself bitterly in her presence for
having sent her lover away, when she stopped
him
1T is Gods will, uncle she said quietly
you only dill what it was ordained that you
should do And then she came and laid her
sunny head upon the old mans shoulder and
cried little and said that they two were all
alone in the world now; and he comforted
her in the best fashion he could 1t was a
curious thing that they neither of them
thought much of jess when they talked thus
about being alone jess was an enigma, a
thing apart even from them. When
She was there she was loved and al
lowed to go her own way; when she was
not there she seemed to fade into
outer darkness A wall came down between
her and her belongings Of course they were
both very fond OF her, but simple natured
people are apt to shrink invoIuntarily from
what they cannot understand, and these two
were no exception For instance, Bessies
affection for her sister was poor thing COM
pared to the deep and self sacrificing, though
often secret, love that her sister showered
upon her. She loved her old uncle far more
dearly than she did jess, and it must be
owned that he returned the compliment with
interest, and in those days of heavy trouble
they drew nearer to each other even than be-
fore
But as time went on they both began TO
hope again. No further news of Johns death
reached them Was it not possible, after all,
that the whole story was an invention! They
knew that Frank Muller was not a man to
hesitate at a lie if he had purpose to gain,
and they could guess in this case what the
purpose was. His furious passion for Bessie
was no secret TO either of them, and it
struck them as at least possible that the tale
OF Johns death might have been invented to
forward it. 1t was not probable, more es-
pecially as he was not present to urge bis suit,
but it was possible, and however cruel sus-
pense may be, it is at least less absolutely
crushing than the dead weight of certainty.
On Sunday--it was Just a week after the
letter came-Bessie was sitting after dinner
on the veranda, when her quick ears caught
what she took TO be the booming of heavy
guns far away on the Drakensberg She
rose, and, leaving the house, climbed the hill
behind it. On reaching the top@she stood
and looked at the great solemn stretch of
mountains, Away, a little to her right, was
a square, PERCEPTIONS peak called Majuba,
which was generally clothed in clouds. To-
day, however, there was no mist, and it
seemed TO her that it was from the direction
Of this peak that the faint rolling sounds
came floating on the breeze But she could
saa no taip
less and devoid of life as the day when it first
lowered up upon the face of things created
Presently the sound died away, and she re-
turned, thinking that she must have been de
ceived by the echoes of some distant thunder
storm
Next day they learned from the natives
that what she had heard was the sound of the
big guns covering the flight of the British
troops down the precipitous sides of Majuba
mountain. After this old Silas Croft began
to lose heart little The run of disaster
was so unrelieved that even his robust faith
in the invincibility of the English arms was
shaken
at is very strange, Bessie" he said, every
strange; but never mind, it is bound to come
right at last. Our government is not going
to knock under because they have suffered a
few reverses"
Then came a long four weeks of uncer-
tainty. The air was thick with rumors, most
of them brought by natives one or two by
passing Beers to which. however, Silas Croft
declined to pay any attention. Soon it be
came abundantly clear, however, that an
armistice was concluded between the English
and the Beers, but what were its terms OF its
l.
Croft thought that the Beers, overawed by
the advance of an overwhelming force, meant
to give in without further fighting; but Bessie
shook her head
One day-it was the same on which John
and jess had left Pretoria-a Kaffir brought
news that the arnistice was at an end that
the English were advancing up to the Mex in
thousands and were going TO force it on the
morrow and relieve the garrisons-a piece of
intelligence that brought some of the old
light back to Bessie's eyes. AS for her uncle,
he was jubilant
AThe tide is going to turn at last, my love, y
he said, land we shall have our innings. Well,
it is time we should, after all the shame and
loss and agony of mind we have gone
through. Upon my word, for the last two
months | have been ashamed to call myself
an Englishman. However, there is an end OF
it now l knew that they would never give
in and desert u.s. and the old man straight
ened his crooked back and slapped his chest
and looked as proud and gallant as though be
were . instead of 90
The rest of that day passed without any
further news and so did the following two,
but Oh the next, which was March %, the
storm broke.
About II O'Clock i'll the forenoon Bessie was
employed upon her household duties as usual,
or rather she bad Just finished them Her
uncle had returned from making his after
breakfast round upon the farm and was
standing in the sitting room, his broad felt
hat i'll one hand and red pocket handker-
chief in the other, with which he was polish
ing his bald head, while he ehatted to Bessie
through the open door
mo news of the advance, Bessie dearYn
"No, uncle she replied with sigh, and
her blue eyes filling with tears, for she wa:
thinking of one of whom there was also nc
news.
"Well, never mind. These things take 6
little time, especially with our soldiers, who
move so slowly. / dare say that there wa.
some delay waiting for guns or ammunition
or something. | expect that we shall heal